


A Dyad in the Force

by MamaJefe



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Force Dyad (Star Wars), Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Rey Needs A Hug, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22622344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MamaJefe/pseuds/MamaJefe
Summary: Both Ben and Rey survive the battle of Exegol. She and Ben must learn about their dyad in order to move forward in the aftermath of the war. A mysterious force guides them to someone who might be able to help.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	1. Exegol

Chapter 1: Exegol

Rey pulled away from Ben as a tremor shook the throne room. At the same time, a wave of pain flooded her body, not all of it her own. She looked ben up and down, assessing his injuries. The worst was his leg, _he won’t be able to walk on that and I can’t bear his weight._ She looked around them for anything to stabilize his leg with, but they were surrounded by nothing but stone. She’d have to try to heal him, but she knew she didn’t have enough strength for that. _Be with me_ , she thought as she cast out into the force. In the back of her mind, she found it a little odd that she was now trying to save the same man, that just hours before, had been trying to kill her. But that thought was replaced by the whisper of a voice that wasn’t hers. She recognized the whisper, Leia's voice grew in her mind.

“We have little power left to lend you but what we have is yours to use. You must hurry, the longer you stay in this place the weaker you will both become.” And with that, her voice and presence disappeared.

Rey looked over at Ben and she saw tears rolling down his face. “I hadn’t realized you could hear her too, I thought she was just in my head.”

She reached her hands out and put them on his leg, with the little strength she had been loaned, she was able to partially set the fracture, but it was by no means healed. He would be able to hobble along on it but not for long.

“We need to get out of here, but we won’t both fit in my ship.”

“I came in my own ship, if it’s still intact, I should be able to fly it for a little while. I left it not far from yours.”

They slowly made their way slowly from the throne room and from the fortress. It was crumbling around them burying the last remnants of the sith.

…

Outside battleships were falling from the sky and Rey could see the last of the resistance ships leaving. She could only imagine the celebrations that were already starting on those ships. Finn and Poe were probably getting the festivities started back on Yavin already.

“Rey…” she was pulled from her thoughts by bens voice. “What are you planning to do? I would understand if you wanted me to go as far from the resistance and the new republic as possible…” his voice trailing off, seemingly not wanting to finish his thought.

She looked at him dumbfounded. “Do you really think I spent the last year and a half trying to turn you to the light just to send you away as soon as you do?”

His face lifted a little but faltered. “I can’t go back to the resistance. I’d be shot, which I deserve before I could set foot outside my ship.”

She thought about this for a minute. He was right, she couldn’t bring him back to the base. She also knew deep down that she couldn’t really stay on the base either. She had learned so many things on Exegol that needed to be explained. It was then that she noticed his ship. She let out a bark of a laugh looking at it.it looked like he had tied together with pieces of an old empire tie fighter from the wreckage of the Death Star.

“Did you really come it that?” she said incredulously, “You’re crazier than I thought.”

A smile flashed across his face. “I could say the same thing about you.” Looking over at her ship. It still had seaweed hanging from its landing gear and water was dripping out of the storage compartment.

She smiled back and helped him into his ship. “Turn to comm channel 4, no one should be using that one.”

She climbed into her own ship and took a deep breath, which felt like her first one in ages. She flipped a series of switches and entered the coordinates for Yavin 4 into her Navi-Computer.

“Follow me to Yavin, and orbit for a couple of hours. I have somethings I need to do. There’s a little cave three miles south of the base, land there. I’ll make sure the scanners don’t detect your approach. I’ll meet you there.”

She sent the coordinates to his ship and took off. She looked out her window at the wreckage of the sith planet and thought she never wanted to see it again.

…

A young man and woman sat at a table eating a modest meal, when suddenly the woman drops her fork.

Looking up she asks, “Did you feel that?”

The man nods his head. As they both seem to ponder some unknown occurrence, a transparent blue figure begins to materialize in one of the empty chairs. Unphased the two looks at him.

“I’m sending some people to you, teach them what you’ve learned. Together you are the only hope for an order of force users to return.”

They both silently nod and look at one another as the figure fades away as quickly as it appeared.


	2. Yavin-4

Finn was running to her ship before she had even landed, Poe was not far behind. She was swept up into a hug before her feet touched the ground.

“How are you alive? I felt you die!” Finn said breathlessly.

It pained her to lie but they weren’t ready for the truth just yet. “I don’t know, one minute I was fighting Sidious and then the next I woke up on the ground with temple falling around me and the battle won.”

A look flashed across Finns face, like he didn’t quite believe her. But then Poe started talking, and they both were pulled into a play by play of his exploits in the battle. She filed Finns little revelation about feeling her die away in the back of her mind.

She had been so caught up in Poe’s enthusiastic recounting of the battle that she hadn’t noticed they were heading towards the clearing at the center of the base. She pulled both men to a stop.

“listen. I know that there are festivities and that people are going to want to see me. But there are things I learned on Exegol that I need to find explanations for, and they can’t wait. I promise I’ll explain as soon as I can. But I need to leave and figure these things out.”

“But we just won! You should be here celebrating with the rest of us. This battle wouldn’t have been won without you.” Finn said getting clearly upset.

“I know. But I need to go, and I need you to understand. It won’t be like Ahch-to, I’ll bring a communicator with me, you’ll be able to get a hold of me whenever you want.”

Poe gave her an odd look but seemed to resolve to trust her. He turned to Finn. “We need to trust her Finn.”

She hugged them both and walked back towards the base buildings. Poe was already turning towards the celebrations, but Finn watched her leave with a puzzled expression.

…

Her first order of business was in the command tent. She looked around to make sure she was alone. there were a couple of other resistance fighters at their stations, but they were speaking jovially to each other and hadn’t heard her enter. Crouching low she crept over to the atmosphere scanner and entered Bens ship ID number. She watched his ship enter the atmosphere and land where she had told him to. It was comforting to know he had listened to her; it was a small step towards trust. She left the command tent as quietly as she had entered it.

Her own tent was her next stop. Here, she finally took a moment to sit and take a breath. So much had happened in the past day that she hadn’t had the chance to process. She had learned who her parents were, had fought and defeated Sidious, DIED, and come back. Ben had turned to the light, Leia had died, and she had kissed ben. That last thought caused a funny feeling in her stomach and she wasn’t really sure why. It wasn’t a bad feeling, but it was new and that kind of scared her. But she pushed it away for the time being.

Just then she heard a rustle in the corner. She looked over to find ben sitting on the floor. He was sitting in an odd position, and she realized that this must be a force connection like they had had on Ahch-to, and on Crait. He wasn’t really there; he was still on his ship. The bond must have reopened itself as an aftereffect of everything that happened on Exegol. He was asleep, though not a very restful one. She watched him for a moment as several expressions of varying degrees of distress crossed his face. Turning back to her work with newfound speed she hurriedly grabbed her few possessions and most importantly the Jedi texts. _The sooner I get back to him the better. I don’t want him to wake up alone._

Hurrying from her now empty tent, she hurried towards the Falcon. It was the only ship left that was large enough. She wasn’t sure where they were going to go but she figured they might have to live out of it for a while. She grabbed several changed of clothes, guessing Bens' size, as she passed the laundry tent. Luckily this part of the base was deserted, everyone was celebrating, so she didn’t have any trouble slipping into the falcon unnoticed. She sat down in the comfortingly familiar captain’s chair and took off without a trace.

...

The falcon touched down about ten yards from Bens makeshift tie. He seemed to have found the clearing easily enough, she could see his outline in the cockpit. The clearing was silent, save for the occasional creak of one of the ships. Rey made her way down the falcon's ramp and towards his ship. She tapped on the glass, and he jerked awake. He looked around frantically before his eyes came to rest on Rey. Only then did a look close to relief settle on his face.

He opened the cockpit and half climbed half fell out. “You were faster than I thought you would be. Did you not take some time to celebrate?”

“It was easier to say a few goodbyes and just leave. Anyways besides Finn and Poe, I never really got close to anyone.”

Ben started to sway where he was standing, he tried to cover a grimace, but Rey Noticed.

“let’s get you inside and sitting down again. I don’t particularly want to drag you all the way into the ship.”

It was then that Ben saw what ship Rey had brought. Rey felt a storm of emotions wash over her, which certainly weren’t her own. There was anger, fear, and mostly sadness. Startled she looked over at Ben and discovered the source.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think about the memories you might have of this ship.” She said quietly. “it was the only one available.”

“It’s okay, I need to start facing the things I’ve done. And this ship is as good a start as any.”

…

Inside the cockpit, Rey helped Ben into the copilot’s seat. After starting up the computers and checking all the systems, she turned her seat towards ben.

Rubbing her hands together she said, “Okay, where should we go? Any Suggestions?”

“I’ll go where ever you want to go.” He said and immediately looked surprised and his own words. Rey got the sense that he had accidentally let his thoughts slip out through his mouth. She felt her cheeks heat a little and the same funny feeling from before returned. She quickly turned back towards the computer.

“let's go to Ahch-to and rest and regroup for a couple of days and then we can try to come up with a plan.” Ben Nodded in agreement as she punched in the coordinates. The falcon took off but soon Rey noticed they were flying in the wrong direction. Ben seemed to sense her confusion.

“What's wrong?” Ben asked.

“We’re going in the wrong direction. But the coordinates I entered were right.”

Rey tapped at the computer screen. A computerized voice rang out _Destination: Dantooine._ Confused, Rey re-entered the coordinates. _Destination: Dantooine._ She tried again a couple more times with the same results. She looked over at Ben.

“I don’t know what’s going on. It won’t let me change the destination and it won’t let me turn off the autopilot.”

“I think we're both too tired to fight this right now. Dantooine is as good a planet as any, we might as well just go there and then try to fix the Navi-computer.” He said, his voice starting to get thick with fatigue.

“What’s On Dantooine? Rey Asked.

Ben Shrugged his broad shoulders. “I don’t know, I’ve never been. My mother said something about and old rebel base once...” And with that exhaustion overtook him. And soon enough it took Rey too.

…

The Young man and woman stood in a courtyard surrounded by lush green forest. A compound of structures spread out behind them. They were looking up into the sky, their shoulders gently brushing each other.

A Correllian freighter snapped out of hyperspace several miles north of them. And began its descent to the courtyard. The man brushed a kiss across the top of the woman’s head and walked towards one of the structures. The woman smiled softly and walked off into the forest to the east. Lightsabers swinging gently at their sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm foregoing the lightsaber burial. It never sat well with me. Eventually, they'll make their own but for now, the legacy sabers will do just fine. As always leave any constructive criticism in the comments, I'd love to read it.


	3. Dantooine

The hyperspace trip to Dantooine would take two days. Rey hadn’t realized that before she fell asleep in the pilot’s chair, but she did once she woke up. Ben was still fast asleep as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. His sleep seemed to be much more peaceful this time. Rey finally had a chance to think. _Why is the force connection open? Why am I relieved its open? I think I missed having it when I didn’t. Maybe that’s why I feel so much better, why the force seems so much more balanced._ She decided to talk to him about it when he woke up. Rey couldn’t bring herself to wake him up, she got the feeling he didn’t get to sleep like that very often. Rey looked down at herself and realized she was still covered in dust and blood from the throne room. She crept out of the cockpit and headed to the showers.

…

Clean clothes and hot water had never felt so good, and Rey had been far dirtier on jakku. She was toweling her hair dry when she heard rustling behind her.

“Rey..?” Ben shuffled down the hallway.

“Ben I’m in here.”

He limped back towards the bathroom. “I got nervous when I woke up and you were gone.” He said quietly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to wake you. Why don’t you clean yourself up and we can try to find something to eat, okay?” She felt a warm feeling growing in her stomach. It was all kind of endearing.

He nodded. “I grabbed you some clothes before we left Yavin.” She went to walk past him and paused when she was right in front of him. Without thinking she reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. He flinched away for a second and then leaned into it. She stayed there for a moment and then gently pulled away.

Rey headed to the Ships Galley to dig through the cupboards. Most of the food was canned or portions. It wasn’t hard to go back to portions, but she always missed the fresh food she had gotten used to in the resistance. She grabbed a couple cans of soup and stuck them in the heater, and then poured the portions into some water.

By the time the food was done, ben was walking into the galley, his hair was dripping, but he looked much better without all the dirt and blood.

“Food just finished. Why don’t you sit down, I have some things I want to talk about?” Bens eyes widened, she saw the look on his face and quickly said, “nothing bad! Don’t worry,”

He nodded and they sat down. These portions were much better quality than the ones she used to get from Unkar Plutt. She ate quickly realizing that it had been well over a day since she had eaten anything. Once she finished, she pushed her plate to the side.

“I think the force Bridge, link, thing, is open again. I saw you in my tent while you were still in the tie fighter and I think I’ve been feeling some of your emotions. “

Ben pushed his food around and didn’t look up. “it would make sense, we started to work together so it probably reopened when the force sensed that shift. Sidious did also say we were a Dyad.”

“What is that anyway?”

“It’s incredibly rare. It’s one soul, split by the force, into two bodies. It creates a pair that together have the potential to be incredibly strong.”

Rey let that sink in for a bit. “Okay, I think that’s where we should start. I Have the Jedi texts, we can search those and then figure out where to go from there.”

Ben stood up first. “I’ll clean up.” He said quietly.

She started to walk out, but then Ben spoke again. “Why didn’t you leave me there? it would have made sense for you to.” Ben didn’t turn around when he said this, and his voice was shaky. Like he was scared of what the answer would be.

“I spent 19 years of my life on Jakku feeling like something was missing, a part of myself. Even with the resistance I still felt it. I haven’t felt it for the past two days. And the only thing that’s changed is you.i’ll be in the cockpit when you're done”

His shoulders relaxed a little bit, and she felt something like happiness through the bond. She placed her hand on his shoulder and rubbed her thumb in a circle. She went to pull her hand away but he caught hers and held it. After a brief moment, he dropped his hand. She felt her stomach drop at the loss of contact, and she thought it might have been both of theirs.

…

Two Days Later…

Rey sat in the pilot’s chair watching as Dantooine grew closer. One of the Jedi texts sat open in the copilot’s seat. Ben had been reading it earlier. It was one in a language Rey hadn’t been able to read, and she wasn’t convinced Ben knew how to either. He had gotten up in a huff, but she could hear him coming back. She turned around to watch him enter. He had a sandwich hanging out of his mouth and another one in his hand. Ben picked the book up, flopped down into the seat and offered Rey the other sandwich.

“eat” he managed to squeeze out between bites.

He had certainly relaxed over the past couple days, and Rey had discovered that he had an appetite to rival Chewbaccas. She took the sandwich and bit into it.

“We’re starting our descent; we should land in a couple minutes.” She said, “It always surprises me to see another planet with so much green.”

They landed a couple of minutes later. Rey clipped her lightsaber to her belt and ben slipped a blaster into the holster on his thigh. The ramp lowered and they cautiously walked out into the cool air. Rey took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air after two days of breathing recycled air.

Around them was a courtyard, surrounded by abandoned buildings. They weren’t in disrepair, but they definitely hadn’t been used in a while. Outside of the little compound were thick forests filled with tall green evergreens. She caught glimpses of red and orange amidst the green. The planet must have been in the start of its 3rd season. She shivered in the cool breeze and wished she had grabbed a cloak. Almost as soon as she thought it, Ben was pulling one out of his bag and handing it to her.

“You Dessert Dwellers, always assuming it will be warm.” He joked, giving her a playful nudge with his elbow. She rolled her eyes.

“What do you think this place was?”

My Mother mentioned an old rebel base on Dantooine once. Maybe this is it.”

They continued through the courtyard and into the maze of buildings that surrounded it. “I have a weird feeling about this place.” Rey said, looking up at ben.

He opened his mouth to say something. But was cut short by the sound of a lightsaber igniting behind them.


	4. Not the Only One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know this isn't the best chapter, I've been flip-flopping on how to write this transition from one part of the story to another.

Chapter 4: Not the Only One

Ben closed his mouth slowly and in unison, they turned around. In front of them stood a woman. She was small, a couple of inches shorter than Rey. She appeared a little older than Rey but definitely younger than Ben. She had long dark red hair and very pale skin. There were dark green markings on the skin of her neck and running down her arms. She was human so Rey assumed they must be race markings. She was holding a lightsaber down at her side, lit but in a non-threatening stance. It was an unusual color, very dark green. Much darker than Luke’s had been.

“Who are you? Why are you here?” She said with a quiet voice.

“We could ask the same thing of you,” Ben said and Rey felt him reach towards the woman with the force. He was going to try to enter her mind. Before Rey could stop him, a wall of force came crashing at them and knocked him a couple of steps backward. He looked at the woman bewildered. At the same time, he angled himself so that he was in front of Rey. Blocking her so that should the woman swing, it would hit him first.

“try that again, and I’ll let you in. You won’t like what you find. I’ll ask one more time, who are you? Why are you here?”

This time Rey spoke first. “We were traveling, and our Navi-computer and auto-pilot broke forcing us here.”

The woman’s eyes flitted to their lightsabers, as she extinguished hers. “you’re the people Obi-wan and Luke said were coming.”

“Obi-Wan? Luke? Why would they want us here?”

“They can tell you themselves.” A man’s voice echoed from behind them. Turning Rey saw three men approaching. One was tall, as tall as Ben, but much broader. The other two were older and appeared much the same way that Luke had on Ahch-To before the battle of Exegol. The tall man walked behind them to stand next to the woman. He slipped his hand into hers. Obi-wan walked around to stand between the two groups.

“This is Orenyn and Jafen Crallin. They are like you, a dyad. You are here to learn from them. They can teach you what you are capable of, and how to use your bond.”

Realization dawned on Ben. “You were controlling the computer and the autopilot.”

“Yes, I was. They have mastered their dyad, let them help you master yours. I lost your grandfather, and I failed your uncle. I’m trying my best to help you. Help you both.” With that, they faded away.

Orenyn stepped forward, her voice lest defensive now. “come, we have much to talk about.”

…

Rey and Ben followed them to one of the buildings. This one was obviously lived in. The interior reminded ben quite a bit of Luke’s childhood home, just without the sand. He had taken him there once while they were on a mission before everything else had happened. The only real difference was what had been sandstone in Luke’s childhood home, was made entirely of wood here.

Jafen gestured for them to sit at the table. “I’m sure you both have many questions. We have many for you as well. We had the advantage of knowing you were coming so, so why don’t you begin.”

“Who are you?” Both Ben and Rey said quickly.

The other couple exchanged knowing looks, and then Orenyn spoke. “As Obi-wan Said, I am Orenyn, and this is Jafen. I was born in an old imperial colony on Kashyyyk. He grew up in the lower levels of Coruscant. I Can.t speak for Jafen, but growing up I always felt a pull somewhere, but could never place where. A couple of years before the first order began to rise to power I left Kashyyyk on passenger transport and headed to one of the gas mines of Bespin. There, through an odd series of events, I met Jafen. Recognizing that we had a connection of sorts, we sought out Luke Skywalker. We had heard that he was a Jedi and thought he might be able to help us sort out what was happening to us. We found him on Naboo, his temple had fallen he refused to train us but did teach us how to commune with those who have become one with the force. Under the tutelage of many past Jedi and Greys, we learned what we had and how to use it.” Jafen nodded as Orenyn spoke. Rey got a sense that his story mirrored hers almost exactly.

“Why did you never join in the war?” Ben asked. There was something in his voice that made Rey uneasy. She saw flashes in her mind; anger, thoughts of what might have happened if they had had help. She slid her hand into his under the table. She felt him calm a little, but there was still an agitated undercurrent in his mind that she could feel.

“The force did not will it. Your battle against Sidious was your fate to fight. And while we weren’t there physically, we loaned our strength as best we could. The outcome would not have been the same if we had been there.” Jafen stated.

This seemed to placate Ben. Jafen looked at them both intently.

“Now, tell us about your bond. Obi-wan has already told us your story thus far. What have you experienced? So we know where to start teaching you.”

This time Rey spoke. “We’ve seen each other, touched each other when we aren’t together. Sometimes when we're on opposite sides of the galaxy. Sometimes we feel each other’s emotions or hear each other’s thoughts.” She looked at Ben, who nodded his head in agreement.

“These are the early stages of a Dyad bond opening. We can show you how to open it further, but it will be up to you both to be willing to do it. This kind of bond can be a difficult thing. To let someone know you as good as or better than you know yourself can be daunting. You will need to trust one another completely for this to work.” Orenyn said as she rose from the table. “now it’s getting late. Your welcome to sleep on your ship, but we do have rooms ready for you here if you choose, D-8x2 can show you to your rooms. We will begin in the morning. Good Night”

With that, she and Jafen left for one end of the home. A droid appeared next to them. “This way, if you please.”

…

Neither of them had been keen on sleeping in the falcon. The sleeping quarters weren’t exactly comfortable. Especially for two people. Rey’s room was a soft green color with dark wood furnishings. It was small but comfortable. There was a pad on the wall that controlled the door and had a comm system that went throughout the building. She guessed this was a relic of the rebellion when alarms and messages would have needed to circulate quickly.

There was a soft knock on her door. She opened it to find Ben, he had discarded his usual black attire for similar clothes but in a very dark shade of brown. She liked it, they made him look a little less harsh.

“Hey.” He said in a soft voice. Looking around at her room.

“Hey.” She said back as she flopped down on the bed. “This might be the most comfortable thing I’ve ever been on.” She sighed.

Ben's stomach fell a little. Rey’s incessant optimism made it easy for him to forget that she had led an incredibly hard life up until this point. He crossed the room to sit down next to her. He couldn’t help but like the way she seemed to so easily relax.

“What do you think of all of this?” he asked.

“I think we should learn as much as we can. If Luke trusts them, then so can we. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to understand this better.” She said, waving her hand vaguely between their heads. And then she let out a huge yawn.

He stood and made his way to the door. “I’ll let you get to bed. Sleep well.”

“Ben, wait.”

Rey stood. She crossed the room quickly, stretched up onto her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face under his chin. He was surprised but, after a second, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in closer. They both felt a little hum in the force. After a couple of moments, ben said good night into her hair. He left the room and both of them couldn’t help but wish they could have stayed.

…

Orenyn was stretched out on the bed watching Jafen get ready. Sometimes it was hard for her to believe that they had been together for so long. It felt like yesterday she had been following a feeling across the galaxy. She was sure that if she had had any family they would have told her she was crazy.

“You’re reminiscing, aren’t you?” Jafen said, tapping his temple.

“yes, I am. We’ve come a long way. Seeing them reminded me of it. Do you remember when we had just met and this was all so new and scary?”

“Mmm yes, I remember. It’s difficult for someone to know you so completely, and it will be difficult for them to trust one another as completely as they’ll need to. You had a hard time letting me in, and we had no reason to not trust one another.”

“I had a hard childhood. I grew up only being able to trust myself. But you’re right, this will be a hard process for them. They’ve been on opposite sides for so long.” She sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. Jafen climbed into bed, putting himself between Orenyn and the doorway like he always did. He buried his face into her hair.

“sleep well, my dear.”


	5. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've been battling some serious writer's block. I'm sorry this chapter doesn't have much going on plot-wise. I'd love it if you let me know where you'd like this story to go in the comments.

Ben jolted awake. Something was wrong. He felt scared, but the fear wasn’t his own. He could smell electricity and the distinctly acrid smell of Exegols atmosphere. He felt a pull out the door and down the hallway. _Rey, somethings wrong with Rey,_ He thought. He began to run down the hallway and around the corner until he reached her doorway. Her door was already open. He slid to a stop in the doorway. Ben could see her tossing and turning in her sleep. _She’s having a nightmare._ Objects were flying around the room at a pace that was getting faster and faster. Every time he tried to get closer to her he would be buffeted back. He knew there were things he could do to get to her, but he could feel her fear getting worse and worse and it was clouding his mind. He turned and slammed his fist into the comm button.

“Help! Something is wrong with Rey, but I can’t get to her!” He yelled.

Moments later, Orenyn and Jafen came running down the hallway. They had both obviously been fast asleep. Orenyn rubbed the sleep from her eyes and assessed the scene, and Ben felt Jafen’s consciousness expand towards Rey. _Why didn’t I think to do that?_ Ben Reached towards Rey in the force and he was sucked into her mind. _Everything hurt. Above them a starless sky was being torn through with lightning. Ships were dropping from the sky like rain. And the awful voice of the Emperor was ringing around his mind. But then he heard another voice. “Ben, you need to leave this dream. We will need your help waking her up. She’s too far down the hole for me to reach her.” He didn’t want to leave her alone in this place. Not after he had already done it once. “I know, but she will need you in a moment.” Jafens voice pulled at him._ Ben gasped returning back to his own mind.

Orenyn had gone as far into the room as she could. Ben and Jafen watched as she raised her hands in front of her chest, her hands bent slightly down at the wrist. She took a deep breath and Snapped her hands up. Everything stopped moving.

“I can only hold this for a moment.” She said through gritted teeth. “Go to her. You’ll have the best chance of waking her up.”

Ben ran across the room, shoving things out of his way. He gathered Rey up into his arms. Tugging at her mind, he whispered to her. Whispered that she was safe, that her friends were safe, that he was alive. “Be with me?” He said quietly.

Her eyes flew open and she looked around wildly. After a second she remembered where they were, where she was. Her hands scrabbled across Bens back, taking big fistfuls of his shirt and pulled him closer as she sobbed into him. “I was back there, all alone. But this time I couldn’t move. And you were gone.” She cried.

“I know, I know,” Ben said softly. He ran one hand up and down her back and buried the other into her hair. He held her until he felt her heart rate slow and her breathing even out. “I felt all of it. Then and now.”

Orenyn and Jafen had left, but Ben hadn’t noticed when. “Stay with me… Please.” Rey said her voice muffled by his shirt. She pulled away and sat with her legs folded in front of her. “I can’t go back to sleep. Will you talk to me?”

He mirrored her posture, their knees just touching. “Of course, I will.”

And they talked the rest of the night. About everything and anything.

…

They met Orenyn and Jafen in the courtyard the next morning. It was brisk outside, and Rey relished the fresh smell the forest gave the whole compound. Smells like this just didn’t exist on jakku. And after the night she had, it felt invigorating.

“We have some business to attend to in a village near here. We probably won’t be back until tomorrow morning. We told you we would teach you about your connection and how to use it. Before we can start that you both need to learn how to let the other in. How to open your mind completely to the other person.” He made pointed eye contact with Ben. “Holding nothing back. This is a deeply personal and emotional experience. It would be a good idea to try it while we are gone.”

“The droids can show you where anything you might need is,” Orenyn said as she turned towards a speeder that looked like it was as old as the base was. She climbed on to the back, wrapped her arms around Jafen’s waist and they sped off.

Ben watched them speed off to the north and wondered what they could be doing in the village. After a moment he looked to his side to see Rey looking up at him. He was struck for a moment by how small she really was. She always seemed to fill the space she was in, but in reality, her head barely reached his shoulder. He was pulled from that thought when she suddenly said, “I want to explore.” Her voice was tinted with excitement. Before Ben could reply she had grabbed his hand and started dragging him behind her farther into the abandoned base.

…

As they walked through the base, Ben got the sense that it had been abandoned in a hurry. There was a lot left behind by the rebellion. The first building they came on must have been the maintenance building for droids. It was filled with spare parts and decommissioned droid. Everything was coated in a thick layer of dust, but most of the metal was surprisingly free of rust. Occasionally there were voids in the dust, they must have used parts from here to maintain their own droids. Rey had gone quiet. He looked over to see her crouched in a corner looking intently at something he couldn’t see. Walking up behind her, he saw that it was the top half of an old IG unit.

“I think it’s legs might be over there.” He said, pointing to the opposite corner of the room.

She nodded her head absently. Still looking at the droid. He dropped down next to her. “Rey…?”

“I could have eaten for a week on this thing.” Her eyes were unfocused as she scanned the droid up and down. She shook her head slightly and looked over at him. “I want to fix it. Will you help me bring it back later?”

“… Sure. Whatever you want. The falcon could use a droid anyways.”

Rey smiled and he about melted. She stood and walked out of the room. They spent the rest of the morning walking around the base. Every once in awhile, she would slip her hand into his or hook his arm with hers and drag him off to the next place she wanted to see. He was completely content to follow her around. it had been ages since he'd been able to do something so relaxed, ages since hed had free time.

…

Ben Kept thinking about What Jafen had said about holding nothing back. He had done so much bad in his life. And if he let Rey in completely, she would see all of it. He already felt such crushing guilt about it all, but the thought of Rey looking at him with fear or hate in her eyes again made him feel physically sick. She could feel his uneasiness growing over the course of the afternoon. She finally brought it up in the afternoon when she couldn’t take the queasiness in her own stomach anymore.

“Ben, what’s the matter? And don’t say nothing, I can feel it.”

“I was just thinking about What they said before they left.” He said, deciding that being honest with her was probably the best bet. “There are things I’ve done that I don’t want anyone to see, especially not you. I don’t want you to hate me again.”

“You were manipulated by Palpatine, He said as much. I can’t say that I want to know everything you’ve done, but I’d like to believe that if you’d been given half a chance you would have made different decisions. Besides it, not our past that defines us. What you chose to do now is what’s important.” She said with such conviction in her voice he almost believed her.

“I think I’m going to try to meditate for a little while. Will you be okay by yourself?”

She shrugged. “Sure, I’ll just get started on the IG.”

He absent-mindedly pecked her on the cheek as he stood to leave. “Good, I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

As he reached the door he realized what he had just done. He froze in the door for a moment and Rey could see his ears turning red. She smiled, and he felt warmth flood across their bond. His shoulders relaxed a bit and he walked out into the courtyard.

He found a tree stump a little way into the woods. It seemed like as good a place as any. He sat and tried to clear his mind. He was finding that quite difficult given what he’d just done. His lips were still tingling. But he finally managed to sweep everything from his mind and close his eyes. He reached out in the force and felt it moving throughout the forest. His body relaxed and all the roiling emotions melted away.

“ it’s good to see you without the mask kid, I always hated mine.”


	6. Chapter 6

I'm going to be taking a break from this fic for a little while. I've been having some writer's block with this fic. In the meantime, while I think about where I want this fic to go, I'm going to be working on a Mandalorian based fic. I hope you guys will enjoy it.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave any constructive criticism in the comments, I look forward to reading what you guys have to say.


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